Hi all,

We are looking at a depositor for mainly our chocolate bars. I got talking to a reseller of Pomati in the UK and he has recommended the Pomati OSD 5 Depositors.

This can obviously do a lot more than just bars, which is great as this would be useful for doing our moulded chocolates too.

http://www.pomati.it/en-US/product/10/one-shot-depositor/one-shot-depositor-osd-5

At the moment we are doing 300 - 400k bars a year (30 tonnes), and sales are increasing quickly. At the moment our set up is wholly inadequate:

- 2 x Wheel 30Kg wheel temperers (just used to melt the couverture)

- 1 x FBM Prima (7kg working bowl)

- 1 x Chocolate fridge for cooling

- Moulded chocolate - All done by hand

All our oils, spices and nuts are then mixed, by hand, in a bowl and then poured, by hand, into moulds. One person can usually do between 600 - 800 days doing it this way.

Our main part of our business is bars but we are looking to develop the moulded praline side of the business so the one shot is interesting.

We are now in a position where we can spend some money of equipment better suited to our production, but its extremely confusing as to what would be best for us moving forward.

We have looked at a whole line for the one-shot, which is extremely expensive but I am looking in invest in a line that will future proof our production for a few years to come.

They recommended:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/an3psbwic6wxez5/OSD5%2BTank%2BT20%2BVERT175.pdf?dl=0

- Does anyone have any opinions on this?

- Is this the best way to go? How else would you do this volume if not?

- Is there a more economical way to achieve this?

- What are your thoughts on Pomati?

Many thanks!

C

Calum -

When you say that the Pomati line you link to in the PDF is extremely expensive - what do you mean? And, when are are adding nut inclusions, what is the maximum size of the inclusion that the Pomati line can handle?

Personally, I would not invest everything in a single line. Single point of failure and the overhead involved in changeover is going to be significant. By having parallel lines - two or more - you reduce these risks and costs. If you are producing different kinds of work I would look to create solutions tailored to the work being done rather than one line that needs to be reconfigured for each different type of product.

I have one customer here in the US who is doing 10,000 bars per day each using FBM Maestrias, each backed by a 200kg melter. They build a custom cooling solution (room). All of the bars have some sort of addition (powders, inclusions) in them. 

Assuming 200 working days/year, 400,000 bars is about 2,000 bars per day. At five molds/minute and three cavities/mold, that's 900 bars/hour. If each bar is 50gr you need 45kg/hr of tempered chocolate. The T20 which is quoted in the line has a max throughput of 24kg/hr so right away I see a problem - you need a larger tempering machine.

The current Maestria has a 45kg working bowl and can temper up to 135kg/hr. FBM is introducing a new Maestria in the Fall with a 60kg working bowl and three-zone tempering. The Unica will be upgraded to a larger working bowl as well, at least 35kg if not 40kg, giving it a throughput of 70-80kg/hr. FBM offers a pneumatic depositing option for the Maestria and the Unica (and both offer three-zone tempering) or consider a one-shot machine that they plan to introduce in the Fall as well.

Of the companies in Italy offering this type of equipment, Pomati is the youngest. I can't speak to the large machines because I have not opened the backs and looked inside, but the smaller machines tend to have underpowered motors which can affect longevity when they're put into high-duty-cycle operation.

:: Clay

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Clay,

Thanks for this response!

To answer your questions:

- This line is 128k EUR

- Nuts are included through the OSD5 stage, I assume (I have asked for clarification)

- I have asked about max inclusion size.

I do like the quality of the FBM machines and if we could find a solution with FBM that is certainly what I would do.

The example of the company that makes 10k bars a day is interesting. At what stage do they add nuts and other inclusions?

Thanks

Calum

Calum -

As a point of comparison:

2xMaestrias (45kg) with pneumatic depositors (maximum size of inclusion of about 3mm) will cost you under €50,000 total. 2x200kg melters cost under €20,000. Mold loaders add another €15,000 all in.

FBM is introducing a new one-shot in the Fall but I don't have pricing on it (won't until after they return from holidays) and I don't know what the max inclusion size is on the one-shot but I will ask.

A 50 mold vertical cooling tunnel is under €30k and the 100 mold tunnel is under €40k.

If you wanted to buy all this equipment, I quoted catalog list prices above - I am confident FBM could take care of you.

The customer doing so many bars a day has some products where the inclusions are mixed in (such as flaked coconut) and others where the inclusions are vibrated in.

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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/